Hua (state)
Huáguó (滑国) was a vassal state of Western Zhou that existed in what is now Henan, whose ruling elites belonged to the royal family but which was destroyed by the State of Qin in 627 BC. The population were the earlier Hua of the Spring and Autumn period not the later Huá (滑) of the Hephthalites. The Huaguo in northern Henan was destroyed by Qin Shi Huang, and the Hua tribe sought refuge in Shanxi. They became part of the Xiongnu at Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi). When Liu Can was overthrown by Jin Zhun, and Shi Le established his state, many of the Huá (滑) around Pingyang fled west along the Silk Road causing the Xionites to harass Persia -though Pingyang remains the centre of the Huá (滑) clan even today. They later appear in the Qeshi region (Turpan area) under the Rouran.
- "This tribe came to Tocharistan and soon settled in the eastern regions of Khorasan at the beginning of the Vth century."
The word guo can be interpret as state or tribe, which depend on different cases, some of the problem including, perhaps vague in meaning, taking for example the Samhan which mentioned in the Records of Three Kingdoms consisted of seventy eight guo, where guo here could have been translated differently. Thus (Chinese: 滑国; pinyin: Huáguó), the State of Huá (滑), can refer to the name of the Hephthalites' country or tribes mentioned in what is now north Afghanistan from the Book of Liang and Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang. However, Malyavkin (1989) insists that the Hephthalite country was called Yeda by the Chinese, and only the polity was called Hua.
In modern times, Huá (滑) refers to the southernmost county of Anyang, the northernmost prefecture-level city of Henan.
See also
References
- The Book of Liang
- The Liang Portraits of Periodical Offering